Week 21 QB projections   •  SD Stats

QB Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

HT: 6-5, WT: 228, Born: 12-8-1981, College: North Carolina State, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 4

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Stats and Week 21 Projection

WK	OPP	RES	CMP	ATT	PYD	Y/A	PTD	INT	RSH	YD	Y/R	TD	FPT
SEASON TOTAL			366	582	4624	7.9	27	20	26	36	1.4	1	336

Week 21 Injury Status and Other News

No official injury reports have been released yet

[Wed Feb 1, 6:47 PM] Philip Rivers said the team needs to cut down on the mistakes and play a little better but are not far off from a trip to the playoffs again. "A lot of times, you look at 8-8 or 9-7 and you get too caught up in what's wrong instead of, 'Let's just play a little better and fine-tune some things,'" Rivers said. "Because the difference in an 8-8 or a 9-7 team to that 11-5, 12-4 team is not a whole lot."

Week 21 Matchup Info

The San Diego Chargers have a bye this week.

Game Summaries

Week 1 vs MIN - Rivers had what we'll call an uneven performance. He threw for over 300 yards, but it took him nearly fifty pass attempts to get there. He threw two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions (one of which was a terrible decision). But in the end, he did just enough to get his team in position to win and he made the plays in crunch time to ensure they won. After the Charger run game was twice stuffed at the goal line to open their drive, Rivers found a wide open Mike Tolbert in the flat for the easy score. Things would get progressively more difficult from that point, as the Vikings applied regular pressure for just about the entire first half. The Minnesota front was causing all kinds of timing issues, and Rivers had to essentially disregard the receivers and utilize his backs and tight ends almost exclusively. His best pass of the game was also the most unfortunate, as it went for an incompletion. He was looking for a wide open Vincent Jackson down the middle of the field in the end zone, but the ball went about three feet too far. From the replays, it appeared as if Jackson didn't really come out of his break very quickly, which probably disrupted the timing of the play. Had he hustled all the way, it likely would have been a 43 yard touchdown. Rivers nearly found Antonio Gates on a touchdown a bit later, but the big tight end couldn't hang onto the pass in traffic. Late in the first half, he was intercepted on a play where his hand was hit as he threw, yet another case of the pressure getting to him. When the second half started, Rivers was still having protection issues. He then made a bad decision in trying to toss up a floater down the left side to Ryan Mathews. On the play, Mathews was being shadowed by DL Jared Allen. Rivers figured he could sneak the pass in behind Allen, but Allen turned at the last moment and intercepted the ball into his hands almost like he was running a pass route. It was clear that Minnesota was intent on taking away the deep passing game, so Rivers improvised. He looked underneath to his backs and tight ends even more, but found a way to buy himself some time by moving around a bit better in the pocket. On the eventual game-winning score, he did a great job by rolling out to his left, then continuing to roll out to his left, then rolling out some more. As he did so, he drew not one but TWO Viking defenders up towards him. This allowed Tolbert to sneak downfield a bit, where Rivers fired a strike to him between the two defenders. Tolbert did the rest of the work in diving into the end zone for the score, but Rivers' contribution to the game wasn't complete yet. On San Diego's final possession to run out the clock, Rivers used a hard count to draw Minnesota linemen offsides a whopping three times, the last of which converted a first down and clinched the game.

Week 2 at NE - Rivers benefitted greatly by the work of his receivers in this game, or else his stat line wouldn't have looked anywhere close to what it is. Whether it was Malcom Floyd skying in the air for acrobatic catches early on or Vincent Jackson basically having his way with the defensive backs late in the game, the receivers clearly made Rivers in this game. He made several uncharacteristic mistakes, including two interceptions with the team driving deep into New England territory. The first interception was made by Vince Wilfork, who tipped it up in the air to himself before taking off. Rivers said it was just a great play by the defender and a throw he'd make again, which fans maybe don't want to hear since Wilfork was standing directly between Rivers and his intended target Mike Tolbert. His second interception came as a result of pressure in his face. He had to step back as he heaved a pass toward the sideline to TE Antonio Gates and he got very little on the throw. Rivers settled down a great deal in the fourth quarter and just went back to what works well -- that is, throwing it non-stop to WR Vincent Jackson. They had a terrific rapport, converting third down after third down. Finally, he found him in the end zone on a floater to the back line of the end zone. Rivers showed nice patience in letting the play develop before flipping it over the top of the defense. Later in the fourth quarter, he again found Jackson on what was a phenomenal one-handed grab by Jackson amidst a sea of defenders. On San Diego's final offensive play of the game, Rivers was hit from behind and fumbled when he held onto the ball for too long while waiting for the play to develop.

Week 3 vs KC - Some will point to the lockout or injuries or just early season kinks being worked out, but whatever the cause, something isn't clicking yet with Rivers and his receivers. For the second consecutive game, he threw two interceptions very early on, and put his team in very poor positions on several occasions. His first turnover came on a jump ball that he hoisted up seemingly without regard for what happened. Rolling out to his right, he flipped one up for grabs and unsurprisingly, it was intercepted. Granted, there was a missed pass interference penalty on Kansas City that should have given the ball back to the Chargers, but that still doesn't entirely excuse the decision to make the throw in the first place. He made a similar play later in the first half when he fired a deep bomb down the seam to WR Malcom Floyd. The ball was overthrown, and the Kansas City defender made a nice play to juggle it briefly before holding onto it for the pick. Rivers has never thrown three interceptions in a game before, but he should have easily had a third in the third quarter when he fired a pass over the middle that LB Derrick Johnson was all over. Fortunately for the Chargers, Johnson couldn't haul it in for the turnover, but it was still a pretty poor decision. Late in the game, Rivers had one deflected at the line and batted straight up in the air, but that too fell for an incompletion. He looked a bit skittish at times, perhaps due to the pressure he was continuously facing as well as some big hits he suffered. He actually left the field briefly and went to the locker room to get worked on during a Kansas City possession in the third quarter. And in addition to the physical mistakes, he made what can only be classified as a bad mental error late in the game. With the clock still running and Kansas City out of timeouts, the Chargers faced a fourth down and inches. Rather than waiting until most or all of the play clock expired, Rivers hiked the ball on fourth down with 23 seconds still left on the play clock. They were stopped, and Kansas City immediately took over possession needing just a field goal to tie. And they were essentially gifted 22 extra seconds by San Diego, who didn't run the clock all the way down. It was just a bizarre decision all the way around, and one has to assume it was a brain lock and not a strategic one to hike the ball so early in the clock. It just simply wasn't a typical Rivers day, and didn't make the kind of plays and decisions we've grown accustomed to.

Week 4 vs MIA - The Chargers had a pretty simple gameplan in another game without Antonio Gates. Throw it short, lull them to sleep and then throw it deep to Jackson. 10 of Rivers 21 completions came to his running backs streaking out of the backfield and 3 went to his tight end on short routes. Rivers did hit Vincent Jackson on a beautifully thrown 55 yard touchdown strike, which gave him his only TD. But soon after, Jackson left the game, and Rivers just worked the short passing game and handed the ball off. The offense just doesn't have the same "unstoppable" look without Gates. When Jackson left, they looked even more mortal. Rivers likely isn't going to have the same explosive numbers as he has in years past, but 300+ yards in a game in which he didn't have Gates and had Jackson for only half the game is pretty good

Week 5 at DEN - Rivers' up and down season continued in this game, as he threw yet another bad interception and very nearly threw another, as well as an extremely costly fumble late in the game that allowed the Broncos to get back in it. Early on, he fired one down the seam to WR Vincent Jackson over the middle. Denver's defensive backs collided with one another as the ball arrived, otherwise that likely would have gone for a pick. Soon after, he threw a pass to WR Patrick Crayton that bounced off his hands and went for an interception (which was returned the other way for a Denver touchdown). In fairness to Rivers, Crayton looked up to find the ball a bit late. In fairness to Crayton, the ball was thrown behind him anyway. In addition to the bad decisions, Rivers was under a lot of pressure early. He took a bad sack on second and goal at the seven yard line to set up a third and long from the 14, which essentially took them out of touchdown range. He did put up a flurry of fantasy points late in the first half, however. With no one open near the goal line, Rivers stepped forward in the pocket and took off up the middle towards the end zone. Despite being met by a defender at the goal line, he used his 228 pound frame to muscle his way in for the score. Late in the first half with the Chargers trying to get in field goal range, Rivers instead hoisted one up down the right sideline towards WR Malcom Floyd, who had beaten his defender by several steps for the 42 yard touchdown. But the second half brought more inconsistencies. He opened their second half drive with a first down sack and a second half fumble. He dropped back to pass, but the ball just simply slipped out of his hands. By the time he recovered, the ball was 17 yards in the backfield and it was third down and 35 to go. With the Chargers up by 16, the team got very conservative with its play-calling and helped let the Broncos get back in the game. When they tried to turn the offense back on, it was sloppy. He stepped into the pocket to throw a ball over the middle, but the ball was knocked out of his hands before he made the pass. It was initially ruled incomplete, but following a review it was changed to a fumble. On San Diego's final possession, both of the regular running backs were injured so they turned to Rivers to try and run out the clock with passes. His first two fell incomplete, but then he found Floyd with a deep floater, a pass that had perfect touch and dropped right into his hands on third down and 10 to pick up 38 yards and keep the drive alive.

Week 7 at NYJ - Rivers' nightmarish 2011 season continued in this game, as he made a number of poor decisions and once again couldn't come through late with the game on the line. Despite getting his favorite weapon back (TE Antonio Gates), Rivers simply looked off throughout much of the game. Even when San Diego was winning, Rivers was barely completing 50% of his passes and wasn't connecting on very many passes downfield. San Diego built up an eleven point halftime lead, but Rivers was unable to build upon that whatsoever, as the Chargers were shut out in the second half. He tried forcing it to WR Vincent Jackson on a couple of occasions, two of which ended up perhaps costing the team the game. He threw a ball a bit behind Jackson that bounced off his hands and directly into the waiting arms of Darrelle Revis. That led to the eventual game-winning touchdown. On San Diego's next possession, Rivers again looked over the middle to Jackson, but the defender undercut the route for another pick. His one touchdown pass was a nice look to the back corner of the end zone to Gates, but it was more of a great move by Gates getting off the line than a great pass by Rives. Late in the game with the Chargers down by six, Rivers and the Chargers took over with no timeouts on their own 24 yard line and 1:29 left to play. Rivers inexplicably threw two short passes over the middle that chewed up almost a minute of clock. And then on fourth down and eleven seconds left, he threw the ball out of bounds to end the game. It was an extremely curious sequence considering Rivers has historically one of the league's best at late-game comebacks.

Week 8 at KC - Rivers came into this game with a plan to beat the Chiefs' secondary deep. It was a plan that quickly backfired, and then disappeared. Rivers went deep on his first two throws, throwing deep to Brandon Flowers' side. Flowers was having none of it blanketing the received on both throws. His next throw was his worst of the day, sailing the ball over Antonio Gates' head and directly into the arms of a Chief. After completing his first pass short to Patrick Crayton, Rivers again looked deep, again in the direction of Flowers. In fact, the pass looked like in was intended for Flowers, who dropped an easy interception. After a short completion to Vincent Jackson, Rivers' good fortune from the Flowers' drop was reversed and a pass batted at the line of scrimmage turned into his second INT in the first ten minutes of the game. His frustration only grew as he was forced to settle for short crosses and dumps to running backs for most of the half. The only TD pass Rivers threw, in the second quarter was negated by a questionable offensive pass interference call on Antonio Gates. Rivers made a nice throw on the play to Gates back shoulder, but a slight push off reversed the touchdown. He seemed to settle down to start the second half, connecting on 5 of 6 passes including a great throw on a skinny post the Malcolm Floyd. He was more content to take what the Chiefs were giving him until they got into Chiefs territory, when he took a deep shot and the pass was knocked away on a diving stab by Javier Arenas leading to another Chargers' field goal. The remainder of the half followed the same script with Rivers mostly checking down and counting on his receivers/backs to do the heavy lifting after the catch. The Chargers' only touchdown drive of the game came in the 4th quarter and included some uncharacteristic Houdini-esque scrambling from the Chargers' QB. As the Chiefs ratcheted up the pressure, Rivers was able to evade the rush, buy himself time, and find receivers downfield as the coverage broke down. He also threw a beautiful lob pass on a wheel route to rookie RB Curtis Brinkley to set up a 2 yard touchdown run. Despite these heroics, Rivers morphed back into the goat by fumbling the snap with one minute remaining and the Chargers in position for the game winning field goal. After finding no success on the Chargers sole overtime possession, he could only watch as Chiefs drove to win the game.

Week 9 vs GB - It's impossible to discuss Rivers' performance without mentioning that this was the first game in his entire career that he threw three interceptions in a single game. The first two came very early on, both of which resulted in Green Bay defensive pick-six touchdowns the other way. Additionally, his final pass of the game was something of a desperation heave down the sideline as the Chargers drove to try and tie it up. But despite the turnovers, there was actually enough positivity surrounding his performance to suggest that the season-long slump he has been in may finally be a thing of the past. He threw for a season high 385 yards and more importantly, four touchdown passes (three to his favorite target Vincent Jackson and one to TE Antonio Gates). On his first score, he found Jackson deep down the seam in the back of the end zone and he was EXTREMELY fired up after the score. But on their next possession, he floated one to Gates that was nearly intercepted. On the very next play, the pass sailed beyond Gates and into the waiting arms of the defender for the pick. And on the next possession, he made an awful read thinking he could throw a quick out to the sideline. Instead, the defender jumped the route and took it the other way for the score. After that second interception though, Rivers really settled down. He again found Jackson for a big gain downfield off a play action, a play very reminiscent of the San Diego dynamic passing attack we've seen so much in recent seasons. In the second half, Rivers not only settled down but he exploded. He consistently found Gates over the middle and moved the ball almost as well as Green Bay did. Rivers took advantage of some lazy defense by the Packers to twice find a wide open Jackson in the back of the end zone, and even when the Chargers weren't completing passes they were drawing penalties to keep drives alive. The San Diego offense was simply clicking on all cylinders, and following a couple of defensive stops they got the ball back with a chance to tie it in the game's final minute. He made a very dangerous pass all the way across the formation to Gates that actually ended up working for a big gain, but it was the last positive action for Rivers on the day. A few plays later, he fired one down the sideline for Jackson, but the ball was underthrown and intercepted by Green Bay to essentially end the game.

Week 10 vs OAK - Four days after seemingly making some strides towards getting his season back on track, Rivers regressed once again back to the form that has seen him take a tumble from the ranks of the league's elite. Do not look at the 274 yards and two touchdowns and assume he played an effective game. He was under intense pressure from the Oakland defense really all game long (six sacks) but it was especially bad early on. Part of that may have had to do with losing his left tackle on one of the game's early series. It also didn't help that there was very good coverage on the receivers downfield, so there wasn't many options. At one point, it seemed like every drive was going three and out, and the first half culminated with the Chargers having put up just 65 yards of total offense. In the second half, the Chargers did a much better job of picking up the Oakland pass rush which afforded Rivers a lot more time to find targets downfield. His favorite target was seemingly WR Vincent Brown, who had a career-best game after a mini-breakout performance a week ago. Rivers and Brown hooked up on a touchdown pass thrown into double coverage, and nearly connected on another later on (a play that was originally ruled a touchdown but then reviewed and overturned). He began regularly looking to Brown in all areas of the field, though on one play there was a miscommunication and Rivers threw what should have been an easy interception (though the defender dropped the ball that hit him right in the hands). A week after reconnecting with Vincent Jackson, Jackson didn't record a single reception until late in the second half. And on perhaps the game's biggest play, Rivers looked deep downfield for the potential game-tying touchdown to Jackson. The ball was thrown into double coverage, but Jackson didn't even make an attempt on the ball. It was unclear whether he simply lost the ball or if he gave up on the route, but either way it was obvious that these two once again aren't quite on the same page. What WAS clear is that Rivers was infuriated at what happened on the play. The Chargers did get the ball back at their own 11 yard line with just over a minute left to play and a chance to tie, but as has been the case for most of the season, their two minute offense failed to produce much of anything and ended in disaster with back to back sacks and a lost fumble at midfield.

Week 11 at CHI - For about three quarters of this game, Rivers looked like his old self. The inaccuracy and poor decision-making that we've seen from him for most of the season was completely gone. In its place was a confident, sure-handed gunslinger. He had re-established a rapport with top target Vincent Jackson, and was matching Bears QB Jay Cutler throw for throw. Until the fourth quarter. First, he missed what looked to be an open Jackson deep down the right sideline on a key third down play, instead checking it down to Mike Tolbert for a miniamal gain. (Replays showed that Jackson wasn't as open as it originally seemed, but at worst he had some room in the deep secondary for a 50-50 jump ball opportunity). Soon after a Chicago turnover, Rivers tried getting the ball to Jackson again for a score, but some miscommunication led to yet another Rivers interception. He expected Jackson to curl inside, while Jackson remained on the back line of the end zone, allowing the defender to step in front for the easy pick. That pass set a new career high in interceptions for Rivers, but he wasn't done yet. Following a failed fake punt attempt by Chicago, the Chargers took over down by eleven. Rivers was under pressure and rolled out to his right and wanted to throw the ball away. However, he didn't get the ball far enough away from a defender, as a diving Bears player ended up snagging the "throwaway" for yet another interception. It was an inexcusably foolish play for a rookie passer, let alone a veteran Pro Bowler. Prior to the disaster that was the fourth quarter, Rivers looked great. He hooked up with Jackson seven times for 165 yards, most of those coming on the four deep balls they hooked up on. They also connected on a short touchdown pass, as Rivers fired a strike on a quick slant inside. That made up for an earlier play on which Rivers made a great individual effort to elude pressure and make a tough sidearm throw on the run against his body that Jackson dropped at the goal line. Rivers also made a perfect pass to TE Antonio Gates for a score earlier on a strike between defenders. He showed poise under pressure, great accuracy, and he enabled the Chargers to move the ball with regularity against a pretty solid defense. But somehow, it once again all fell apart in the fourth quarter.

Week 12 vs DEN - Rivers started the game completing just one of his first five passes against one of the league's worst statistical pass defenses coming in, so the writing was on the wall very early on that this was going to be another long day for the Charger quarterback. He was under almost constant pressure in this game, with three sacks and multiple balls batted down at the line (or Rivers' arm being hit as he threw). When he did have time, his passes lacked crispness and were terribly inaccurate. Here's how far the Chargers passing game has fallen. With nearly two minutes remaining in the first half and facing a third down and ten, HC Norv Turner played it ultra-conservative and called for a handoff up the middle which gave the ball back to Denver. HC John Fox with Tim Tebow at quarterback took the ball and marched it downfield for a quick touchdown in less than a minute. The contrast was astounding. This philosophy came up again late in regulation as Rivers was sacked for a ten yard loss after holding the ball for too long. This caused Turner to again put the ball away, go conservative, and do nothing. Finally in the overtime, the Chargers were driving downfield with a combination of rushing and passing. Just as the Chargers reached the very edge of K Nick Novak's field goal range, however, the Chargers got extremely conservative once again. Turner seemed to have more faith in Novak's ability to hit a 50-yard field goal than in Rivers' ability to move the ball without turning it over. So after three consecutive runs resulting in a net of zero yards, Novak lined up and promptly missed the 53 yard kick. A lot of the blame must go on Turner for the decision to get conservative, though it should be noted that the ineffectiveness of Rivers (not just in this game, but all season long) had to have played a large part in that decision.

Week 13 at JAX - Perhaps it was the weaker competition of Jacksonville, the improved play of the San Diego offensive line, the return of Malcom Floyd, or a combination of all that, but whatever the reason for it -- Rivers played by far his best game of the 2011 season. It didn't seem like this game was headed in that direction when he was very close to being intercepted on the team's first possession. He threw a ball over the middle that should have been picked off, but instead two Jacksonville defenders bounced the ball off of each other's hands. TE Antonio Gates managed to snag it with one hand and turn it upfield for a nice gain. But aside from that one near-blunder, Rivers was almost flawless. He stood tall in the pocket when he was able, and unlike in recent weeks he wasn't really under a ton of pressure from the defensive front. He connected on deep balls all over the field, including long touchdown passes to WRs Vincent Brown, Malcom Floyd, and Vincent Jackson (three scores totaling 109 yards...vintage Chargers). Rivers really looked good and very confident while stepping into his throws. The deep balls were almost always right on the mark where they needed to be, and it was very telling in the final stat line.

Week 14 vs BUF - Rivers had another excellent game, though it wasn't without a major miscue involved. He opened up the game 9-9 for 86 yards and a score, efficiently moving San Diego downfield with ease for scoring drives early on. He fell back into his old rhythm with TE Antonio Gates, and the Chargers looked a lot like the Chargers we expected to see all season long. He showed good athleticism rolling out to his right under pressure and finding Malcom Floyd downfield for a big gain on 2nd and 18. And he later showed some elusiveness on a touchdown RUN (yes, you read that correctly) but the run was negated due to a holding penalty. Rivers looked very comfortable in the pocket, his line was giving him plenty of time, and his receivers were getting open with regularity. Both of his touchdown passes to TE Antonio Gates were simple routes on which he was pretty much wide open. And his third touchdown pass, to WR Patrick Crayton, was a simple out route that turned into a score due to some slipping and some poor tackling by the Bills. But as mentioned, there was one very curious play that nearly cost San Diego greatly. Rivers was rolling backwards to set up a screen pass to RB Mike Tolbert in the flat, but as he cocked his arm back to make the pass, the ball slipped out of his hands behind him and into his own end zone. Buffalo recovered for the touchdown and had seemingly grabbed the momentum back. But unlike earlier in the season, Rivers regrouped to lead San Diego on another scoring drive (aided greatly by a fake punt run near midfield). Aside from the fumble, it seemed like San Diego's offense was able to do just about whatever they needed to do whenever they needed to do it in order to pick up the win.

Week 15 vs BAL - Rivers' late season resurgence continued against one of the league's best defenses, though he let his owners down a bit with just one touchdown in the game. Rivers led San Diego to scores on every drive but one (a missed field goal), and in doing so became the first team in history to score on its first five possessions against the Ravens. His offensive line gave him plenty of time throughout the game, as the vaunted Ravens defense rarely got anything close to resembling pressure on him. He was only sacked one time, and even that was negated by a head slap penalty on Baltimore. On the rare occasions a Baltimore defender actually got close to him, he used a quick release to find his receivers streaking downfield, and the Baltimore defenders were never able to hang with the Charger players on deep routes. Rivers took a lot of deep shots, but still completed over 70% of his passes which shows just how efficient the San Diego passing game was. He found Malcom Floyd on a deep touchdown for his only score of the game, a perfectly thrown ball deep down the sideline over the top for the big gain. He found Floyd on several long balls in the game, each time perfectly putting the pass where only Floyd could get it. It was vintage Rivers, attacking teams with the deep ball all game long. He also found his other favorite target, WR Vincent Jackson, with regularity. The two nearly connected on a long score that Rivers barely overthrew, though they did make up for that later with a 58-yard connection down the sideline. Simply put, Rivers could do no wrong in this game, never even coming close to a turnover. Late in the game, Rivers took a big hit from a blitzing linebacker who promptly landed on him, and the quarterback was a bit slow to get up. He stayed in the game and seemed completely fine in the postgame.

Week 16 at DET - Considering the amount of time Rivers was given, it was curious why he didn't play better. He compiled nearly 300 passing yards and did throw a touchdown, but he completed just over 50% of his passes, turned it over twice in the fourth quarter, and there were two significant failings on the Detroit goal line in which San Diego failed to score a touchdown. All of which added up to the worst loss of the season for San Diego in a game they needed to win. Offensively, they just couldn't get into a rhythm. He and his receivers never really got on the same page, with Rivers throwing balls behind his receivers or players running the wrong routes. It just looked as if he was flipping it up to people with no rhyme or reason as to why. Most of the short routes were well-covered by Detroit defenders after the catch, and most of the deep balls had no chance of being completed due to some fantastic coverage downfield. At least three dropped balls didn't help Rivers any, either. The frustrations began boiling over, as Rivers first shouted at WR Vincent Jackson for running the wrong route and then later mixing it up with several Detroit defenders near the Lions' bench. But out of those frustrations came a new focus for the San Diego offense. On their next possession, they marched downfield and Rivers found WR Malcom Floyd in the corner of the end zone for an easy short touchdown. After an onside kick recovery, the Chargers again moved the ball easily through Detroit territory. Rivers found Floyd over the middle to put the Chargers on the Detroit 3-yard line trailing 24-7, but with all of the momentum. Unfortunately for San Diego, the drive stalled there. After converting several third down passes on the drive, Rivers was actually almost intercepted on the third down pass over the middle in the end zone, and the Chargers had to settle for a field goal. Later in the game, the Chargers again drove into Detroit territory with a chance to cut the lead. And again he found Floyd over the middle with a pass to the Detroit goal line. But that ball was thrown a bit behind a wide open Floyd on the crossing route, and while it did put them at the 3-yard line it could have been a touchdown if the ball had been thrown better in stride. That loomed large, because again the drive stalled in the red zone. The fourth down pass play was a pathetic jump ball attempt to Jackson that would have been short of the end zone even if it had been caught, as San Diego's offense again looked like they didn't have any sort of plan out there. Following that turnover on downs, the Chargers got two more possessions which both resulted in turnovers. The first came on a deep ball to Jackson into double coverage that was easily picked off by the Detroit defender. The next was an attempted screen pass to RB Ryan Mathews that the defender leapt up for and corralled into his hands before waltzing into the end zone from four yards out.

Week 17 at OAK - Rivers' afternoon started off with his league-leading 20th interception (and 25th turnover) of the season. He was looking deep for WR Vincent Jackson and badly overthrew him. The defender was just sitting there waiting for the ball to come down to him and easily picked it off. It looked like it was going to be another rough day for Rivers, but instead he completely turned it around and played great after that point. Following the pick, he went 18-23 for 304 yards, three touchdowns, and not one turnover. His favorite targets were WR Malcom Floyd and TE Antonio Gates. The Raiders appeared to have no answers for Gates, who ran wild in the secondary. And they had no one who could match up with Floyd one on one, so Rivers continuously attacked the secondary with high passes that Floyd was able to go up and get. The Oakland pass rush was essentially non-existent, and Rivers was able to sit back and pick them apart almost at will. His first touchdown was a pass over the middle to Gates that was perfectly thrown just beyond the reach of the defender. Gates caught it in stride and did the rest himself rumbling to the end zone. The second score by Rivers was a bullet pass over the middle to Jackson. The receiver made a terrific adjustment in reaching back behind himself to snag the pass out of the air and then keeping his feet inbounds as he fell to the turf. Lastly, he found Floyd on a perfect back shoulder strike along the sideline. Floyd then shook off the closest defender and quickly turned upfield towards the end zone for the score. Earlier on that drive, the Chargers had the ball on their own 1-yard line. Rivers calmly found Floyd over the middle for 19 yards to get them out of harm's way and start the eventual 99-yard scoring drive. During the game, Rivers became just the fourth player in league history with back to back 4,500 passing yard seasons.